Typical Feeding
Typically, a baby needs to be fed eight to 12 times in a 24-hour period during her first month of life. As she ages, she’ll gradually need to eat less often. She should eat seven or eight times a day during her second and third months. By the time she’s 6 months old, she should need to eat five to six times a day. If you feed her formula, multiply her weight times 2.5 to determine how many ounces of formula she should drink over 24 hours. When your baby is 6 months to 1 year old, she should have four to five feedings of milk or formula daily along with two to three feedings of solid food.

“Breast milk still is the most important part of your baby’s diet at this age, so breastfeed right before you offer cereal or other foods,” says Debi Page Ferrarello, R.N., M.S., I.B.C.L.C., director of family education and lactation at Penn Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Health System. When you do offer solids, start with rice cereal and gradually add a cooked or mashed fruit or vegetable. (Many pediatricians believe it’s fine to start with a finely puréed fruit or vegetable, or even meat; check with your doc to see what she recommends.)

Be sure to wait three to five days before introducing a different food so you can trace the cause of any allergic reaction.

The AAP recommends burping your baby during feeding breaks and when he’s done eating. For breastfeeding moms, try burping before switching breasts. For bottle-feeding moms, the AAP recommends burping between every 2 to 3 ounces for newborns up to about 6 months old.
source: www.parents.com

Babies this age tend to stir and look restless during sleep. Because of reflexes they can’t control, it’s common to see them twitch their arms and legs, smile and make sucking noises.

Newborns aren’t born knowing how to soothe themselves to sleep, so you may need to help, with tricks like using a pacifier, swaddling, rocking and breastfeeding. Remember, there’s no such thing as spoiling a newborn, so it’s OK to cuddle baby to help her doze off.

2-4 Month Sleep Tips
Babies this age may sleep for six-hour stretches at night, and settle into more of a set nap schedule now.

To get baby on a good sleep routine, make sure to play and expose her to lots of sunlight during the day and avoid over-stimulating her when it’s dark out.

Starting a pre-bedtime sleep routine — like bath, feeding, story time — can help ready baby to sleep through the night for longer stretches.

4-6 Month Sleep Tips
Babies this age will start to quit nighttime feedings, and are usually ready to sleep through the night now, anywhere from six- to 12-hour stretches.

Research shows about 60 percent of babies sleep through by 6 months, up to 80 percent do so by 9 months.

Remember, all babies wake up sometimes during the night, but those who “sleep through” have learned how to nod off on their own.

For more on sleep-training your baby, read this

6-12 Month Sleep Tips
Some babies stop sleeping through the night now because of separation anxiety. Your baby knows you’re around even when she can’t see you, and may get upset when she wakes up.

It’s OK to go in and check on your crying baby, but keep visits short and try (as hard as it is) not to pick her up or feed her. Try rubbing her back, singing a soothing lullaby and ducking out after a few minutes.

1-2 Year Sleep Tips
Active toddlers can have trouble relaxing and winding down at night — causing bedtime battles. Try to keep things as calm as possible in the evenings, sticking to soothing activities like bath and story time.

Once baby learns to climb out of the crib, she may attempt to snuggle in bed with you. This is a hard-to-break habit, so if you don’t want to start a co-sleeping situation, bring her back to her own room.

2-5 Year Sleep Tips
Toddler and preschooler sleep problems include procrastinating and resisting bedtime, getting out of their big-kid beds when they wake at night, and developing night fears.

Stick to a bedtime routine and sleep schedule, make sure your kids understand the rules and be consistent about enforcing them.
note: By age 9 months, most babies naturally move to napping at around 9 a.m. and 2 p.m

Using a nightlight or lovey can comfort kids who tend to get scared of the dark or have nightmares.
source: www.parents.com

If you’re a mom in today’s day and age, you’ve no doubt heard about The Wonder Weeks, written by a husband-and-wife team, outlining the 10 “wonder weeks” (which often cause sleep regressions), that all babies go through in the first 20 months of life. The book outlines when and why each “wonder week” happens; it also offers parents insights into how to help their babies navigate each wonder week, and turn it into a leap forward for baby.